GARDEN GROVE Strawberry Festival

May 26-29, 2023
 

By C. MacDonald

Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberries 'n Cream, Strawberry Bread Loafs ... were downed by thousands of guests yesterday at the Annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival, which concludes its 4-day run today at the downtown Village Green between Main Street and Euclid Avenue.

The whipped cream-topped delicious eats were consumed while screamers flew through the air on carnival rides like Firefall and Waveswinger. Nearby, excited people of all ages and cultures tried winning prizes by throwing hoops over large rubber ducks, shooting baskets and throwing darts at balloons. There even was a Strawberry Idol Karaoke Contest.

Beautiful Miss Garden Grove, Jessica Tonti, 19, and Miss Garden Grove's Outstanding Teen, Sara Silberman, 16, signed autographs and earlier enjoyed judging "Berry Beautiful Babies" and "Tiny Tots" contests. "I grew up going to this festival every year and loved the Waveswinger Ride," said Jessica, who's finishing up her studies at Golden West College and will head for Biola University this Fall. She previously held Sara's title and Sara hopes to one day become Miss Garden Grove.

But among all this sheer fun, the biggest winners may be the non-profits and their charities, which earn much-needed funds at booths, selling everything from hot dogs to roasted corn to funnel cakes. The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival is a non-profit organization which has raised more than $5 million for local charities since 1958, when it got its start promoting the area's famous strawberry fields.

The Garden Grove Lions Club uses the $4,000-$5,000 they normally raise selling hot dogs and chili for programs that help peoples' sight and hearing, said the Lions' Chuck Lake. "The most popular thing we sell on a hot day is ice water," explained Ray Menard, who has worked in the Lions' booth for 28 years. "As it cools down in the evening, chili becomes king."

While walking through the Food Booth area, I noticed two women picking up litter. To my surprise, they turned out to be from Huntington Beach's Marina High School Band. The band raises funds by working as trash collectors throughout the festival.

"We have two shifts and all of our 120 members work cleaning up the festival grounds," said Kerri Weisenberger, Marina's assistant band director, who lives in Garden Grove. "There are 130 trash cans and we go through the grounds picking up litter (just like Walt Disney used to do at Disneyland)."

"During the festival, we go through at least 25 boxes of trash bags, each box contains 90 bags." (Now we're talking trash!)

"The band earns much needed money and for every shift a student works, he or she receives a free ticket to our end-of-year banquet," said Caroline Nguyen, President of the Marina Band Boosters.

You never know what celebrities you'll see on the festival grounds. Over the years, Steve Martin, Jimmy Durante, Jayne Mansfield, The Carpenters, Debbie Reynolds, Pat Boone and many others have had fun there. Already seen at this year's festival are Carolyn Hennesy, star of General Hospital, Legally Blonde 2 and Jessie, Kate Linder from The Young and the Restless, Lance Lim of Growing up Fisher, Laureen Potter of Glee and Snoopy, Knott's Berry Farm's top dog.

If you can, get on over to the Strawberry Festival from 10-9 today. There will be a Redhead Roundup Contest (time to get some well-deserved fame for that mane) at 11am in the Amphitheater. Some swell bands like The Neptunes and Nick Corsetti & Co. will be performing at the Showmobile (Main and Acacia). Aside from the strawberry eats, the greatest thing about this amazing fun event is its Free Admission! To find out more, visit www.strawberryfestival.org.

Events are not guaranteed. It is your responsibility to confirm before going.